Survive in the Military As a Woman

If you're a woman, and you want to join the military, you will be part of a group that makes up only 15 percent of the people doing this great service for the nation. Will you survive the physical and psychological beating? The military is still seen as a man's world by many people, despite the fact that women have been taking part in war efforts for centuries, and the Pentagon has finally begun to realize that gender does not matter much in the battlefield. However, if your mind is made up that a military career is the path you want to pursue, do not fret, because there are ways to survive.

The military demands much from its people. Do you have the most important one - communication skills? Are you a quick thinker and effective problem solver under pressure? Do you have leadership skills? You might want to visit a career counselor to see how well your skills match up with the aptitudes required of people in this branch of government service. Once you see your strengths and weaknesses in comparison to what the job will ask of you, you can embark on your own enhancement program.

A minimum of six months of preparation is a must. Having an excellent physical base is necessary because this is needed during the basic training where you will be taught survival skills to save your life, and that of your compatriots in the battlefield.

Run. Running is the most challenging exercise in the military's physical fitness training, and getting it right beforehand is a great help. Time your run to establish the pace. To set your pace, don't start off too fast. Pace your goals until getting to the finish time is easier. The four-mile track is recommended, broken into quarter and eighth mile sprints, and jogs of three and six sets each. Once you can do this without stopping, you are in.

Pull-ups, push-ups and sit-ups. Time your workouts for these crunching activities. The more you are used to timing them, the more prepared you are to earn a high score in the physical fitness training. Maintaining this pace prepares women for the physical demands of the basic training and other training they want to be part of or assigned to.

Do the pyramid workout for pull-ups, starting at one pull-up for the first set, then two pull-ups for second set and so on, until you cannot continue further. Then repeat in reverse order.

Work toward a maximum five sets of push-ups in five one-minute periods.

Get enough sleep, do not drink too much alcohol, and eat nutritiously. Junk food lowers your stamina and physical fitness. When in the military service, the military takes care of your nutrition needs in the dining hall, mess hall, MREs. In time, you will get used to the food there, but while you are preparing yourself to get in, develop the habit of healthy eating.

Once you have made a self-improvement program based on your strengths and weaknesses, and you have built up your strength and stamina to meet the rigors of military training, your chances of making it through boot camp are excellent. When you have accomplished this, your strong and toned body will be a sure ticket to passing the physical fitness training. If your mind is as honed as your body, you may also obtain a quicker route to special operations forces training.

Be as psychologically fit as possible

The brutalization technique is meant to break down psychological barriers you bring to the camp, so you will embrace a new way of life with an entirely different set of norms. You can prepare for this and other conditioning techniques by doing the following:

Be as true to yourself as possible. Place in one column the positive ones and another column for negative traits. Identify which ones will prevent you from following instructions without a squeal during training. The military is not really a place for independent thinkers who need to know the reasons before performing a specific action, or those who have a tendency to ask questions. What you need to develop is the ability to follow orders - the mark of a good soldier.

Patriotism is a must to give you basic reason to fight for your country. Are you a team player? Do you have a strong enough sense of responsibility? Are you flexible and adaptable to change and maybe leadership? The frequent change of base and exposure to varied cultures require these traits. They are most needed when you become a leader of a platoon, fighting it out in a foreign land. The military also requires empathy, so you can survive when you are in a deprived area of the world, entirely different from your color, socio-economic background, culture and religion.

Meditation promotes healing. It is most helpful in the stressful military service, for it decreases anxiety, develops intuition, sharpens the mind and expands it, too. These increase your creativity, thereby increasing happiness and improving your emotional stability. No difficult assignments, stress and problems can derail these benefits.

Are you a qualified candidate? Joining and surviving the military and staying in the different services requires pride, courage, stamina and psychological strength. No amount of bashing of the frailty of women's bodies can change the fact that women have served in the battlefield alongside men and performed just as competently throughout the ages.